The letter, which was written in conjunction with a number of pet trade and keeper organisations, expressed concerns about how certain CITES requirements are in opposition to other Government targets supporting small businesses without bringing any tangible conservation benefit.
The letter called on the Government to rethink its approach and commit to target deregulation in certain areas.
The letter suggested that retaining Article 10 certification requirements and the requirement for import permits for Annex B species are not core CITES obligations. They are additional controls put on when the UK was part of the EU, and retained post-Brexit. They are not in place across the world. So by removing these, the UK would fall in line with the rest of the world. Defra maintains this would risk ‘compromising’ conservation commitments so the letter asks for concrete examples of where this has happened elsewhere with other countries which do not insist on these additional requirements.
In Annexes to the letter, the organisations go into more detail on how the current application of the rules impedes business, without demonstrating any strong conservation benefits. It also raises the issue that in some instances examples of non-compliance have failed to result in any enforcement action, which again demonstrates how the additional rules do not work and end up costing legitimate businesses.
The letter was sent on behalf of:
Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association (OATA)
Federation of British Herpetologists
Hawk Board
National Council for Aviculture
Parrot Society
Raptor Breeders UK
Reptile and Exotic Pet Trade Association (REPTA)
Responsible Reptile Keeping
Sustainable Users Network (SUN)
